Old villains, new villains, coins lost and coins found. As the Rangers are about to discover, everything old is new again…

All things Power Rangers belong to Saban and Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks. Demonking belongs solely to Daniel White and Teeg and Rexo belong to KS. The premise of the Coin Series has been borrowed from a story written by Terry, Chris, Daniel, Brice, Katey and myself.

The Coin Series takes place in an alternate dimension.

Power Rangers: The Coin Series
Everything Old is New Again

“Will you put that damn thing away?” Jason growled. Kim looked up over the top of the pink compact and then dropped her eyes back down. To the casual observer, it looked as if she was simply staring at herself in the mirror. But on closer inspection, the mirror wasn’t reflecting anything at all, it was softly glowing in the dim light. Where the powder should be was a soft shell-like surface and Kim softly ran her finger over it. As her finger moved, the muted colors in the mirror swirled and clouds alternately formed dissipated.

“Someone is going to notice that thing.”

“I think it’s ingenious.” Carri commented.

“You would.” Jason complained.

Kim snapped the lid shut and slipped the compact back in her purse. “I just don’t get it.” She said. “I know she’s here. She knows I know she’s here. What’s she waiting for? Why leave off attacking the Nova Rangers and come all the way to this system just to sit and do nothing?”

“You sure it’s Teeg?” Jason asked. He was hoping Kim would be wrong. Teeg was the one witch in the universe he’d rather have off bothering someone else. He’d only encountered her once, when he’d been in the Rheigan system trying to help Kim get away from her then husband. Once was more than enough. Better Teeg stayed focused on the Nova Rangers than develop an interest on Earth.

“I’m sure. I just don’t know why she’d follow me here. She thinks Earth’s a fourth class, non-entity, world.”

“It is?” Carri asked.

“It’s getting better.” Jason said, noncommittally.

They were sitting at the end of a large table at the Lakeside Grand Hotel. The second night of the Angel Grove reunion was looking far more promising than the first. The ballroom of the grand was elegantly decorated. The entire wall beyond the dance floor sported floor to ceiling windows, from which they could see a spectacular view of the lake beyond. Off to one side a DJ blasted out tunes from the nineties and there was even an open bar. At the other end of the table were their friends from high school. Most were former Rangers, like themselves, but also present were Katherine’s fiancé Chris, Aisha’s boyfriend Grant, and Rocky’s girlfriend Marie.

Carri drew her eyes away from Rocky again. He was such a nice guy. They had spent most of the last evening talking together. He had told her all about his Karate school and how he was helping to support his mom and putting his younger brothers and sisters through college. Why couldn’t she find a guy like that? All the good ones seemed to be snatched up already. Carri shook herself mentally, reminding herself that she was most likely doubly attracted to the fact that he was obviously taken. Marie had already made more than one comment to Katherine to suggest that they’d soon be making a commitment like she was.

Carri’s love life was practically non-existent. But that’s exactly the way she’d orchestrated it. David had been a domineering boyfriend. From the age of fifteen, he’d told her who her friends were, how to dress, where to go, and what to say when she got there. She wouldn’t go so far as to say he was ever really physically violent, but she’d had more than a few pressure bruises on her arms when he’d lost his temper and grabbed her for “emphasis.” Since leaving him she’d had a few boyfriends, but with her travel schedule, nothing ever turned out to be serious for very long. Besides, she demanded a relationship on her terms and most guys just weren’t into that. But again, that suited Carri just fine.

Her relationship with Jason was the closest she’d ever been to guy emotionally. She frowned, remembering Kim’s comment to come clean or sleep with him. The more she thought on it, the less she was inclined to venture into a physical relationship with Jason. She knew he hadn’t been celibate the past few years. She’d even run into a few of his friends, one of which had been more than happy to tell her what her so-called boyfriend was up to. To his credit, Jason had immediately broken things off with the tramp, but the whole debacle had made Carri more aware than ever that they didn’t exactly have a normal relationship.

They were both hiding. Jason from the fact that he was back in the Rangers and couldn’t confide in or share his life with someone on the outside and she from the fact that she just didn’t trust her judgment where men were concerned. Her one flaw was that she was the most attracted to men who were either dominant like David, or totally unavailable to her. In a weird sort of way, she considered them safe, even though she had to admit that most weren’t. It was easiest just to run as fast as she could from them.

“What are you thinking so intently about?” Jason asked.

“Just wondering if we should keep this thing together or break up.” She said softly.

“Another man caught your eye?” he teased. He’d seen her with Rocky last night. The two seemed to have chemistry, but as far as he knew, Rocky was definitely taken and Carri steered far away from committed men. He put his arm around her and leaned down to kiss her temple. She leaned into him, easy with the contact.

“I do love you sweetheart.” He whispered close to her ear, “I just don’t love you that way.”

“I know.” Carri responded wistfully, resting her head on his shoulder. “Half of me wishes you did and the other half is relieved you don’t.”

Jason turned in his chair and regarded her intently for a moment. To the casual observer, it was a very romantic pose. Her head was on his shoulder and his face was only a few inches from hers. Yet neither of them felt anything more than friendship. It was a comfortable closeness born of knowing each other well.

“You want to give it a try?” he asked softly.

“No.” she said softly. “As sad as it is to say it out loud, I love you dearly my friend, but we’d kill each other if we actually had to spend any amount of time in the same room, let alone the same bed.”

Jason chuckled softly, leaning back and gently guiding her off his shoulder and back to her own chair. “I think you’re right.” Was all he said.

“Dance with me?” Carri asked indicating the dance floor with a tilt of her head.

Jason nodded and stood up, offering her his hand. She took it and the two headed off to the dance floor.

“Things seem to be working out well for Jason and Carri.” Tommy observed. Kim met his eyes, but said nothing, breaking the contact to find the two people in question out on the busy dance floor.

“That’s an odd look.”

Kim shrugged, grinning slightly at Jason’s efforts to keep up with Carri as she twisted around.

Tommy watched her intently for a moment. She was as much a mystery to him now as she had been nearly thirteen years ago when they’d first met. He just couldn’t predict her. It had been exciting to him then. Kim was always game to try something new. Her exuberance was a stark contrast to the conservative nature of her successor, but it was better not to let his thoughts drift in that direction.

Jason had filled him in on their adventure into the past and Kim’s marriage and subsequent divorce. Jason agreed it was very likely that Kim was the one helping the Nova Rangers. The Nova’s were headed up by her ex-husband and despite the fact that he’d tricked her into marriage, Kim insisted on his worth as a red Ranger. Jason didn’t know why they were after the power coins. He insisted that Kim had been all but shut in her house for the last year, but then again, she’d pushed him away recently and he admitted she didn’t confide much in him anymore. When Tommy had asked why, Jason had just shrugged and suggested they re-join the group.

Kim had spent the remainder of the last evening animatedly talking with Aisha about her new boyfriend. Try as he might, he couldn’t catch her alone or direct the conversation back to where he wanted it to go. Why she wouldn’t admit to being a red Ninjetti, he didn’t know. His attempts to pry it out of her had been unsuccessful and tonight she had shown up dressed head to toe in basic black. When he’d tweaked her about it, her chin had come up in a pose he’d remembered very well from their years as a couple. Her eyes had twinkled, but there was obvious defiance in them.

“Want to dance?” he asked.

“With you?” She asked, startled and more than a little surprised.

“No, with Lord Zedd.” He answered facetiously.

“Actually,” she said, considering the matter, “He’s a very good dancer.”

“So am I.”

“Since when?”

“Since I dated a dance instructor a few years ago.” He said, rising up from the table and holding out her hand.

“Na uh.” She said glancing from his eyes to his hand and back again. “You did not.”

“I’ll prove it to you, come on.”

Kim’s eyes twinkled mischievously. She put her hand in her ex-boyfriend’s and allowed herself to be led out onto the dance floor, aware that more than a few pairs of eyes watched them leave the table. Rocky turned with the others and watched them go, but his eyes scanned the floor until they found a certain brunette dancing with her boyfriend.

He’d seen her interaction with Jason at the table, seen her slide comfortably into his arm, watched her eyes light up by whatever he’d whispered in her ear. Seen him kiss her temple. He turned around and reminded himself firmly that he was in a committed relationship with Marie. Yet talking to Carri last night had been so easy. He’d made a complete goofball of himself, but she had seemed so interested in how he’d chosen not to go to grad school but devote all his energy to building up his karate school. She openly admired that he still helped his mother financially with his little brothers and sisters and commented how wonderful it was that he’d taken over when his father abandoned them.

He practically glowed with her praise. She’d listened intently as he talked about his adventures with the Rangers and nodded commiseratively when he’d talked of his mother’s desire to see him settled. She shared her own breakup with her former high school boyfriend, her need to run her own life, and her own mother’s tirades that her only daughter would never get married. He’d laughed with her when she admitted her mortification that her mother had already bought her a wedding dress, and thought ruefully that his own girlfriend and her mother had probably already done the same thing.

He looked over at Marie now, deep in conversation with Kat. Chris was on the other side of his fiancé looking hopelessly bored with the evening. He turned and gave Rocky a sympathetic look from behind his wire glasses. Rocky grinned back and then turned to study his girlfriend. She was a good, solid girl. He really had nothing to complain about. Everything about her was just fine. She was very pretty, she was a good cook, the families got along, sex was ok. She was…just fine. He decided Carri was out of his league anyway. What the hell would he do with a famous girlfriend that traveled all over the world to exotic places. What could he possibly offer a girl like that? A little school in a strip mall and three more siblings to get through college? It was totally ridiculous she’d even give him any serious consideration, that is, if she’d even been available. Which she wasn’t.

Adam grinned at Rocky from across the table. His friend had it bad. Poor Marie, he thought. If Rocky was hesitant to marry her before the reunion, it was six times more likely he’d stall again now. Privately Adam had been surprised to hear Carri was dating Jason. He thought the two more likely to butt heads than become romantically involved. They were both very driven, independent people. Rocky would have been a much easier match. He sighed, looking over at Tonya. Who could tell where love happened and where it didn’t?

Kim had to admit; Tommy was as good as his word. He’d become a really good dancer. He skillfully led her around the dance floor to a moderately fast beat, slowing and pulling her closer as the song changed and the tempo slowed. She pushed him back a little, keeping space between them. She knew he wanted answers, knew he grilled Jason about her involvement with the Nova Rangers the previous night.

Tommy allowed her to add space between them. He was surprised to find himself having a difficult time with the closeness. Standard dance positions required him to put a hand on her hip or back, but the cut of Kim’s backless outfit meant that either way he was touching bare skin. Not that he hadn’t thought about his ex-girlfriend over the years, but his reaction to her real life presence had caught him off guard. He had filed her away years ago as puppy love; a first, boyish love. The kind you were never quite sure if you missed because of the person or the innocence of the time.

Katherine had accused him of holding on to the past. Maybe he had, but Kim had represented more than a girlfriend. More than anyone else, Kim had believed in him. Believed he could shake off the evil that had consumed him as a green Ranger, believed that he could come back and lead the Rangers in white, and believed he could become everything Zordon was preparing him for. She’d had faith in him at a time when he’d struggled to find it in himself. She played a critical role in his development as a Ranger.

He’d tried to return that faith in her by encouraging her to follow her own dreams and she’d shattered his young world by leaving him behind. He’d never known the whole truth of the matter. She had tried to retract the letter she’d written him, admitting she’d met someone else, but the tabloids had linked her to more than one gymnast. It had never made sense to him, and even now he didn’t want to analyze it. The woman dancing with him now had hurt him far deeper than anyone or anything he’d ever encountered and yet here he was, dancing with her as if no time had passed between them at all. He had simply to close his eyes and he was sixteen all over again.

As they danced in step to the slower beat, he studied her. Zordon had asked him to keep an eye on her. He had known her experience on Muirantias would change her, and had worried that he wouldn’t be present to guide her. Physically, she was a tiny woman. A gymnast, with long elegant fingers and legs. He still considered her one of the most beautiful women he’d ever known.

He indulged the moment and allowed his mind to drift back to the first time he’d seen her. His mother had just remarried and they’d drug him out of his own high school in Arizona, moved him to California, and forced him to transfer to Angel Grove midyear. He was angry at the move; life had been just beginning to get good for him. The gangliness that haunted him the previous year was filling in and he’d managed to secure a good girlfriend and a fairly popular status in his old school. He was even teaching karate and finally had money all for his own use. He was starting all over again half way through freshman year. It wasn’t fair.

It seemed incredibly silly to him now, but it had been all consuming then. His mother had tried her best, but he was still angry with her. He wasn’t supposed to start school until Monday, but she had signed him up for a stupid tour of the school the Friday before. To make it worse, she’d come with him. Although he loved his mother dearly, there was absolutely nothing worse in a fifteen-year-old boy’s life than his mother tagging along. As the student government representative showed them around the hallways, his mother would point out how nice this was, how his old school didn’t have that, and this wasn’t going to be so bad, was it? It was mortifying.

Then the bell rang and he saw her in the school hallway. He’d just stood there, frozen as she walked down the hall laughing with her friends. His mother had tried to hide a smile behind her hand, but he hadn’t cared. The kid giving him the tour had laughed at him, saying every guy at Angel Grove High had tried at some point to hook up with Kimberly Hart. He assured Tommy it was a useless cause, her group was into something called martial arts, not even the football players stood a chance of getting her attention. Tommy had just grinned; thinking for the first time that perhaps moving to Angel Grove wasn’t going to be such a bad thing after all.

He’d run all the way over to the Youth Center and begged Ernie for a late entry into the tournament that weekend, saying he’d only just moved there and that was why he’d missed the deadline. Ernie took pity on him and let him enter anyway, allowing him to be an alternate for another competitor that had backed out. Tommy grinned inwardly, he had been so young. It was a little embarrassing now, but he had thought himself a genius at the time.

He watched for her all day, finally catching a glimpse just before his match with Jason. His mind had been distracted and he lost several points by either showing off or just not concentrating on what he was doing. The match had ended in a tie, not something the young Tommy had been used to. He’d berated himself fiercely, until he caught her watching him. His heart had pounded wildly, and for the first time in his life he had trouble approaching a girl. By the time he got his act together, her friends were pulling her away.

He’d waited all the next morning for her to arrive at school. When he finally found her in the hallway being harassed by Bulk and Skull…

“Such serious thoughts.” Kim commented, “Are the steps really that hard?”

“No, I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

He regarded her intently for a moment. She was relaxed, one arm raised with her hand casually resting on his shoulder, the other held loose in his hand, allowing him to steer her across the floor. Then something caught his eye. Her arms were very muscular, as was the rest of her. Physical fitness had always been a major priority for both of them, it had been one of many things they had in common, but there was something about the cut of Kim’s arms that gave him pause. She was too muscular for someone who worked out casually. Either Kim had become a gym nut, working out every day, all day, or she was back Rangering. His gut told him it was the latter. So much for her insistence she wasn’t a morphing Ranger.

“Why are you helping the Nova Rangers track down Zordon’s power coins?” He asked suddenly. Silently he berated himself, that had been clumsily said.

Kim stopped and stepped away from him. “Thank you for the dance.” She said flatly and turned and left the dance floor. Damn Oliver, she thought angrily. For the first time in years she was actually having a good time. It had all been a distraction. He’d let her relax and drop her guard. Damn him, she thought again as she left the dance floor and stepped out on the deck. So much for staying friends.

“Kimberly!” Tommy called, but she didn’t turn back. She stepped off the deck stairs, removed her shoes, and walked out onto the beach.

Up on the moon, two NASADA scientists were dressed in space suits, packing up an archeological dig in preparation for their scheduled morning departure.

“Hurry up Pucca, I want to get this stuff stored and go over the check list again.”

“Coming Garu.” Pucca called. “It’s a beautiful Earthrise isn’t?”

“Whatever.” Garu said testily. Six months on the moon with his overly affectionate colleague had been six months of pure torture. It had only increased his enmity towards her and he was eager to be done with the whole thing and go home.

“Uh, Garu?”

“What is it now?”

“Who’s that?”

“What? Who? Huh?”

On the top of small rise stood two monsters. Well, one was definitely a monster. He was over eight feet tall with huge spines protracting and receding fluidly under his bluish gray skin. On his shoulders sat three heads. The center, dominant one, was the head of a dragon. On each shoulder sat the angry snarling head of a bald lion. The other creature he was sure was a tiger of sorts, but standing on two legs. As he stared harder, he realized it wasn’t a tiger at all, it was a woman, but like no woman he had ever seen. She was beautiful beyond words.

She stood languidly, as if she had no other care in the world except to stand there, her head held high. This was a woman who commanded great power, her movements were nothing short of regal. She was dressed in tight black leather, her long straight hair, striped orange and black, fell loosely down to her hips. Her ears were to the side and made of skin, like a human’s ears, but they were definitely cat like in their shape. Her eyes… her eyes were fascinating, drawing him, encompassing him.

“Yeeeessssss.” It was strange and eerie sound. A loud whisper that reverberated in his head, echoing, commanding… “Yessss, come here.”

“Garu, what are you doing? We need to run!”

“Where would we go?” He answered, sounding as if he was just waking from a dream.

“That’s close enough.” Teeg said, her voice harsh and raspy. She raised a large metal staff topped with a crescent moon. “You two will do nicely.”

Pucca and Garu screamed as the energy bolt hit them. It seemed to take an eternity, every cell in their bodies seemed to explode simultaneously. Teeg laughed. A cruel maniacal laugh as the two twisted and convulsed below her. They fell into two heaps, smoke rising and drifting carelessly away. When at last she lowered her staff, she stepped forward and sensually, slowly approached her chosen ones.

“I have a job for you two.” She purred, pure sexuality oozing through her voice.

“Here,” she handed the crescent staff to Pucca, “This belongs to you…Rita.”

“Kim.” Tommy said again, catching up with her on the beach. “I’m sorry. I have to know. Is your ex husband the one responsible for the disappearance of the Dragonzord coin?”

Kim turned and regarded him coolly. “No.” She said simply. “He’s the one I sent to find it.”

“You sent? I don’t understand.”

“No, I’m sure you don’t. This isn’t your fight Tommy, enough people have already died. Do us both a favor and stay out of it.”

“It’s my coin damnit.”

“No. It was Zordon’s coin. He took the coins with him to Eltar and he hid them. Why, is my concern, not yours.”

“He didn’t take all the coins with him.” Tommy said. He wasn’t sure how much she knew and how much she didn’t. Damn, why couldn’t the Rangers communicate with one another? He’d worked for years to unite the teams as Dark Specter had united the forces of evil years before. The Rangers were too solitary, too protective of their secrets. They took their oath of secrecy to extremes. They needed to work together, pull together as the Red Assembly did. He wasn’t an outsider, he and Kim had fought on the same team, and they were obviously after the same thing this time around, why was she excluding him?

“Rocky, Adam, and Aisha have theirs.”

She seemed to consider his news.

“Kim,” he continued, “The coins regenerated when Zordon died. His energy re-charged them, there’s even a new grid somewhere.” Kim nodded, but said nothing.

“I don’t think you understand,” Tommy continued. “The coins are re-charged. Whoever has the Dragonzord coin can create another green Ranger.”

“I’m aware of that.” Kim said. She sighed heavily and crossed her arms across her chest. Tommy wasn’t going to let it go. She never really expected him to. Still, she really didn’t want him involved. She wasn’t entirely sure why. It wasn’t a power play. She could honestly care less if he took charge or Elemi took charge, but she told herself that the Earth needed him here, not roaming the galaxy. She knew Zordon had charged him with many of Earth’s secrets. Demonking was not an easy foe. He was by far the most dangerous creature she had ever encountered. Tommy was needed here, she didn’t want him charging off and getting himself killed.

“Rocky gave his coin to Jason.” She said and he nodded, he knew that. “I have my coin and Aisha’s” She continued, “and have hidden them in a sub-dimension here on Earth.”

“That leaves Adam with his. What about the other coins?”

Kim surprised him by laughing. “If I knew that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“How many coins are missing?”

“All of them.”

“What?” He asked breathlessly.

“Zordon hid them all, they’re all missing. Except for the Dragonzord coin, he apparently left that with you and now it’s been stolen.”

There was an accusation in her voice he didn’t like and his eyes hardened. She had said it to hurt him and he recognized it. But it was true. Truth was the bitterest medicine to swallow. The coin had been stolen when his command center had been destroyed. He had searched everywhere, but it was gone.

“Do you know who took it?” He asked. There was really only one answer to that, but what happened to the coin afterwards was anyone’s guess.

“No, but I know who has it now. It’s only a matter of time before the evil green Ranger returns, but I seriously doubt it’ll be anywhere close to Earth.”

At that moment the ground rumbled violently, knocking them both to the sandy beach and a large explosion plumed skyward.

“What the hell…” Tommy said.

They watched as a large fighting force appeared on the beach below the deck of the hotel. From a distance, they looked almost like putties. Tommy wasn’t sure whether to be concerned or to laugh.

“Putties?” He asked incredulously. “Are they serious?”

“Those aren’t putties.” Kim said softly. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

“Huh?”

“Claybots.” She said simply, watching intently as the fighters in question raced up the deck of the hotel and began to wreck havoc. “They’re like putties on heroine. They have a tri-processing system. First you have to disable the processor in the back, a direct hit between the shoulder blades works best. If you don’t take that out, the second primary system is virtually impossible to shut down. You know you’ve succeeded when their eye slits switch from yellow to red. The second processor is located here.” She indicated her sternum, “You have to go up and under the protective front shield. They’ll double over and their information systems will scramble. You’ll only have about thirty seconds to destroy them completely before the central processor in the front regenerates. Easiest thing to do is go straight for the head area, where the emergency power system is. Crushing the neck is fastest, but you can also destroy them by smashing the head open.”

Tommy gave her a horrified look.

“They’re robots Tommy. Smash and trash ‘em before they kill you or an innocent civilian… and they will kill civilians, they don’t really care who gets in their way.”

“Anything else?” He asked.

“ If you see a larger version, deeper gray, no glowing eyes, possibly off to one side directing, those are the viratrons. They’re like drill sergeants, they keep the claybots on track and in formation. Don’t destroy them. They’re usually an innocent civilian who was captured and infected with a clay virus. Depending on how long ago they were infected, they can generally be restored. It’s better to capture them… but they’d rather kill you than let themselves be captured again.”

“You’ve encountered them before I take it?”

“You think?” she countered, a little nastier than she probably should have. Claybots meant Teeg was making her move. What the hell could that witch want here on Earth?

Tommy and Kim watched as the crowd of people on the deck ran inside for cover and seven figures appeared to run in the opposite direction towards the claybots.

“That looks like our cue.” Kim said, watching the former Rangers begin their attack.

“Looks like someone filled them in on how to disable those things.” Tommy commented.

“Jason...or Billy. Possibly both.”

Tommy nodded. “Let’s do it!”

Claybots were definitely not putties. They were softer, almost rubbery, absorbing much of the energy behind a punch or kick. It was a little like fighting an overly soft ball, but a fast one that fought back.

“Time to up the anti.” Jason called to Carri and Kim. They nodded and the three of them morphed into their Ninjetti forms. The fight went a little easier after that, but not much.

The former Rangers regrouped not once, but twice. There seemed to be no end to the claybots attack. But just as quickly as they arrived, they did an abrupt about face, leaving the destroyed deck area and retreating down towards the beachfront.

“Ok, this is weird.” Kim said. Claybots didn’t retreat; they fought until they were destroyed.

A high pitched cackle drifted over the water and all nine former Rangers looked around for its source.

“Hello kiddies,” a familiar voiced called. “Miss me?”

“I know that voice.” Adam said.

“Rita?” Tommy asked. “Are you kidding me?”

“Someone please wake me up from this nightmare.” Rocky said.

“Awe, boys…I’ve missed you too.”

The claybots fell back, making way for their mistress. From across the lake, the familiar forms of Rita and Lord Zedd drifted steadily closer upon a floating dais.

“We’re back!” Rita waved, as the dais reached the beachfront and continued across the sand. It rose up so that it was level with the deck area, stopping just short of the large deck itself, but close enough for the Rangers to see that Rita and Zedd had changed a little. Rita was still dressed in her voluminous robes, but her hair was pink, not blue. Zedd’s body wasn’t red at all, in fact it was nearly completely covered in black armor.

“This isn’t right.” Kim said, a creepy feeling crawling down the base of her spine. “It’s impossible.” Rocky and Adam turned to her, noticing for the first time her red Ninjetti uniform. Jason, in green and Carri in yellow, joined her.

“You were wrong Kim.” Jason growled. “Admit it.”

“That’s not Rita and Zedd.” Kim insisted.

“Looks pretty damn close to me.” Jason insisted.

“What are you thinking Kim?” Tommy asked, joining the group.

“I’m thinking I need to go find someone.” Kim said.

“All right Kiddies,” Rita called, “Social call is over. Zeddie and I just wanted to say hello, but we have a lot of unpacking to do, I hope you understand. We’ll catch you later at your Power Chamber...oh, I forgot, you brats don’t have one!” She cackled.

“When we do meet again you pathetic gaggle of retirees, it will mean your complete and total destruction!” Zedd called.

The underside of the dais began to sparkle like a huge roman candle and the two ascended into the twilight toward the waiting moon above.

“Toodles!” Rita called. As quickly as the claybots had arrived, they vanished, marching in formation off the sand and through a dimensional wall.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Carri said as the three powered down out of uniform. “I gotta go.” Kim said in a daze. Jason grabbed her arm and spun her around a little more forcefully than he intended.

“You were wrong!” he growled, shaking her.

“Jason… you’re gonna hurt her man … lighten up dude.” Zack said reaching out to try and disengage Jason’s hold on Kim.

“I’m fine.” Kim said as Jason released her. His eyes were murderous and accusatory. “That wasn’t Rita and Zedd.” She insisted.

“Are you sure?” Tommy asked.

“I concur.” Billy added, joining the group. “Not just the alterations in their physical manifestations. I observed several other intriguing differences that would also tend to support Kim’s theory.”

“What are we going to do?” Trini asked. “If Rita’s back, there are no Rangers.”

“There are Rangers,” Tommy said, “Just none available to fight for Angel Grove long term.”

“I have to go.” Kim repeated, walking away from the group.

“Kim,” Jason called. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, he was just furious with these new developments.”

“I have to know.” She called over her shoulder, “I’ll be back as soon as I find something out.” With that, a soft red light began to glow around her. She kept walking and the light grew brighter, sparkling in fluid waves, and then she was gone.

“What just happened?” Zack asked. He had seen it, but he didn’t believe it.

“Transportational portal.” Billy explained. All eyes turned to him.

“But it came from … it came from inside her.” Trini said.

“ I think we need to regroup.” Tommy said and the others nodded in agreement. The party was obviously over.

“I wondered how long it would take you to come here.” The figure said. It was woman, dressed all in white with a gold crown across her forehead, observing a huge viewing globe. Everything here was white; the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the furnishings, the lights. Overkill, Kim thought, but she never commented on it.

“What happened?” Kim asked. The figure sighed heavily, but didn’t turn around. She was watching Rita and Zedd open up the Lunar Palace.

“I forgot about those staffs.” She said simply, her voice raspy. The figure turned around and Kim approached her.

“Rita,” She began, but the figure held up a hand to stop her.

“Mystic Mother.” She corrected. “Now, more than ever, I’m going to insist.”

Kim stopped, took a deep breath, and sighed heavily.

“Mystic Mother,” she began again and the woman smiled and nodded, “What happened? Who is that?” she pointed towards the viewing globe.

“It appears to be Rita and Lord Zedd moving back into a restored Lunar Palace.” Mystic Mother observed.

“Obviously.” Kim said, an edge of frustration creeping into her voice, “But if you are here and Edward is in Briarwood, who is that posing as Rita and Lord Zedd?”

“Oh it’s Rita and Zedd alright Kimmie. No doubt about that... Don’t you think she’s a bit chubbier than I was though?”

“Rita!” Kim yelled, then stopped herself, “Mystic Mother,” She began again in a much calmer voice and the woman next to her smiled and nodded approvingly, “What happened?”

The Mystic Mother seemed to think about that for a moment, turning back to the viewing globe, and then turning back again to face Kim.

“Someone found the staff.” She said simply. At Kim’s blank look she waved her hands dismissively. She turned and stepped up the stairs of the dais to her throne and sat down.

“I wasn’t born Rita,” she explained, “The staff made Rita. Oh don’t get me wrong Kimmie,” She said, leaning forward, hands resting on her knees casually, “I was born bad. My daddy was a monster in his own right. The staff was a present from someone who was pleased with daddy’s work. It turned me from a bad sorceress into a very bad sorceress.” She paused, as if remembering.

Kim had a sinking feeling in her knees. “That someone who gave you the staff, that wouldn’t by chance have been Demonking would it?”

“Well,” Mystic Mother said, “You know, I don’t really know. Daddy always said it was from Demonking, but he tended to exaggerate; quite a bit actually. Could have just been from Teeg, she’s powerful enough.”

“And you didn’t think, given the circumstances between Teeg and myself, that knowledge was necessary?”

The Mystic Mother seemed to contemplate that idea. Her head cocked to one side, eyes drifted to the ceiling, and one finger slowly rose up to the side of her mouth.

“Oh for the love of all that’s…” Kim shouted.

“I don’t think I like your attitude.” The Mystic Mother said calmly. Kim stopped, fists clenched to her sides. Her teeth ground into one another. She forced herself to take a deep calming breath.

“Teeg is here.” She said between clenched teeth.

The Mystic Mother slowly raised herself backward in her seat.

“She followed you here?” she asked seriously. “Are you positive?”

Kim nodded. “I’m very positive. Although what she could want here I have no idea. None of the original coins are here, just the replacements. Tommy was apparently allowed to keep the Dragonzord coin, but that was stolen and sold to Teeg; we already knew that. I don’t know what happened to the Tigerzord coin, he says he doesn’t have it…but it was a replacement coin, so I don’t know why Zordon would bother taking it.”

“Are you sure no one else kept their coins? If he allowed you and Tommy to keep two of them, maybe he allowed the others to keep theirs.”

Kim shook her head. “Zordon gave me my original coin after Muirantias, he said I’d need it someday. As far as I know, Tommy’s the only other Ranger allowed to keep one of the older coins.”

“I thought little Jas-e-poo had one.”

Kim shook her head. “It’s Rocky’s. Jason’s coin was too valuable to leave behind just so Jase could morph.”

The Mystic Mother nodded understandingly. “And you have the pink coin?”

“It’s hidden in a subdimension only I can access.” Kim responded, “I know where it is, but don’t dare try and go for it.”

Again the Mystic Mother nodded. Then she froze, as if a horrifying idea had occurred to her. She rose and hurriedly descended the steps to return to the viewing globe.

“What is it?” Kim asked.

“Kimberly,” Mystic Mother said slowly, as if she was still trying to formulate her idea, “Is Teeg aware that Zordon made copies of those coins during that whole transfer of power thing?”

Kimberly shrugged. “You mean when Rocky, Adam, and Aisha took over?”

Mystic Mother nodded.

“The copies were made ten thousand years after she was locked away, she’s only just re-emerged from…” Kimberly stopped, beginning to understand where the Mystic Mother was leading.

“Those copies, were they made from the same source?”

Kimberly smiled. “No. They were made from the same substance as the Tigerzord coin. Zordon said the original metal wasn’t available to him anymore, so he used a nearly identical alloy…but it was different.”

Mystic mother smiled. “And yet the morphing signatures are the same?”

“Nearly identical.”

Mystic Mother turned to observe her viewing globe of the outside human world. Perhaps the appearance of Rita and Zedd wasn’t as devastating as it appeared. If it could be turned to their advantage…“Teeg doesn’t want Earth or she’d have already set about conquering it. She’s brought back Rita and Zedd as a distraction. You’re becoming a nuisance and she wants to keep you away from the Nova Rangers. She may or may not know of the existence of the coins on this planet, but if she’s here for any given length of time, and I know she’s going to hang around long enough to make sure you stay behind, she’ll pick up on them. She won’t be concerned with minor variations in the metal alloys, she’s going to go after the morphing signature.” The Mystic Mother turned and looked Kimberly in the eyes. “You need to make sure she gets her hands on at least one of those copies.”

“But she’ll be able to create an evil Ranger from it.” Kimberly protested.

“An evil Ranger or two is the least of your worries little girl. If Teeg has a copy, and doesn’t find out she’s got a copy, she’ll think she’s ahead of the game.” The Mystic Mother paused, when she resumed she pointed her finger at Kim for emphasis, “Demonking needs all six original coins together or he can’t come out in the open and play. Nothing is going stop him from possessing those coins Kim. Slip a copy in there, and suddenly nothing works the way it’s supposed to.” She smiled broadly, relief showing in her posture. “ It will take time to find and collect those coins. More time to figure out why they don’t work when linked together.”

“But they will work,” Kim insisted.

“They’ll create Rangers all right, and they’ll work together on the same grid, but unless he’s got all six original coins, he’s gonna stay locked away behind that damn gate of his. That’s what you have to worry about girlie. That’s the mission Zordon gave you, don’t ever lose sight of it. Those copies will give you much some needed time to grow up, understand your power. Perhaps not all is lost after all.”

Shortly after midnight, when Kim finally made it home to Jason’s condo she was surprised to find it overflowing with Rangers. In addition to those present at the reunion were Andros and his wife Ashley, as well as Carlos, TJ and a few people she didn’t know. She nodded at them and Ashley smiled and waved. She smiled back. Ashley was hugely pregnant and Andros hovered nervously around her chair as if she’d go into labor at any second.

“Well...” Jason demanded.

“I was right, that’s not our Rita.”

“How is that possible?” Aisha asked.

Kim sighed heavily and clasped her fingers around her neck, but said nothing.

“We have to pull together Kim, we’ve got to be organized for the next attack. Whatever information you have, we need to know it, now.” Tommy said. Kim nodded and let out the breath she was holding.

“Apparently, Rita drew a lot of her power from her staff, we knew that. What we didn’t know is what happened to the staff after Rita and Zed were…” She paused, searching for the right word. “Purified.”

“Were what?” Katherine asked.

“Purified.” Kim answered. “Their hearts were opened and they were turned to the good.”

Tommy cursed under his breath, he’d heard the rumors, but he’d dismissed them. Rita fighting for good made as much sense as Zordon being alive and in hiding. He listened ruefully as Kim continued.

“Originally, we thought that she and Zedd had been turned human, but then Rita discovered she still had her powers and…”

“Wait a second, I thought you said that wasn’t our Rita.” Zack interrupted.

“It’s not.” Kim tried to explain.

“Then Rita, our Rita’s still alive?” Rocky asked.

“Oh yes, she’s still here. She and Zedd live up the coast a ways; they haven’t gone anywhere. Well, except sub-dimensionally. The human world was a bit much for her after a while. It gave her headaches. She’s set herself up in one of Earth’s sub-dimensions as a force for good.” Kim explained.

There were a number of derogatory comments and soon everyone was talking loudly over everyone else. Carri’s piercing whistle silenced them. “Let’s all just calm down and find out what Kim has to say.” She said. There were a few agreements and then the room silenced, all eyes on Kim.

“The short of it is,” Kim said, frustration clear in her tone, “This is a new Rita and a new Lord Zedd.” She paused, not really wanting to continue, but Mystic Mother had insisted and she had to consider the bigger mission. “They’ve been sent here to keep me busy on my home planet so I can’t assist Elemi and the Nova Rangers when they need me.” There, it was out. She glanced briefly at Tommy and then looked away. “Teeg, a very powerful witch who’s been fighting the Novas, set this up. She knows I’m not going to leave my home world and my family undefended. She doesn’t have the time, nor the inclination to stay here herself long term, so she dug up Rita and Lord Zedd’s staffs and…” Kim threw her hands up.

“And now we have a new Rita and Lord Zedd to fight.” Adam finished for her. “So what do we do?”

“If old Rita still has her powers and is still here, why not let her take on New Rita?” Zack suggested. “I mean, she wants to be a force for good right?”

“It’s not that simple,” Kim said, “She’s kind of got her hands full in her own dimension right now.”

Tommy’s head fell back on his shoulders in frustration and he rubbed his eyes. This was getting them nowhere. There was a big piece to this puzzle missing and Kim was going to come clean if he had to physically beat it out of her.

“What I want to know,” a blond woman sitting by Andros said quietly, “Is what relation you are to the Nova Rangers and why you were so important to distract?”

Kim eyed the woman; she was about her age and dressed head to toe in black.

“Kimberly, this is my sister Karone.” Andros said. “She’s a former Galaxy pink Ranger.”

“We’ve met.” Kim said absently. She’d run into Karone a few times, but she didn’t know her well.

Kimberly starred at her as she weighed her options, realizing she was quickly running out of them. She had a lot to do in the next few days and weeks and it was far easier to just let the Ranger community here on Earth in on her activities. Hopefully, she prayed, Elemi would understand and forgive her.

“I’m the Nova pink Ranger.” She said simply.

“But you turned into a Ninjetti red.” Adam said.

“My powers are separate from one another.” She said simply. Well, it was sort of the truth.

“I thought you said you weren’t a morphing Ranger.” Tommy said icily, his eyes hard and unforgiving.

“I said I wasn’t a morphing Ranger at the moment. I’ve never used the Nova powers on Earth.” She replied coolly. “I only use those powers far away from my home planet and only when I’m active with that team…which I’m not right now.” She met his eyes with an equally hard stare and several people shifted uncomfortably.

“You’re Elemi’s wife?” Karone asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. Whatever was between Kim and Tommy they’d have to work out on their own. Now was not the time to start battling each other.

“Ex-wife.” Kim corrected and Karone smirked. Oh yes, she had heard the stories of how the Rheigan prince had tricked his sorceress bride into the marriage bed. The most popular versions had the pair falling madly in love with each other during their divorce and taking up a scandalous out of wedlock affair. She wondered what the truth was.

“I thought he married someone named Kaycea.” Karone asked silkily and Kim scowled at her.

“Kaycea is the name Dulcea gave me when I completed my training on Phaedos. “Kay” for the first letter of my name and “Cea” the ending of her own; indicating the master who trained me. It’s more convenient to use that name intergalactically… it’s more pronounceable in Basic speech and more easily recognized for what it is.”

“Once upon a time I fought your husband.” she said, purposely leaving out the ex.

“I know who you were Karone.” Kim said icily and Karone’s smile faded.

“Guys,” Andros attempted to intercede.

“You know who I was,” Karone responded silkily, “And I know now who you are.” She smiled sweetly and sat back in her chair.

“Whatever.” Carri said, this was getting them nowhere. “Bickering between ourselves isn’t going to make Rita and Zedd go away.”

“Did Rita…ah, whatever she calls herself now,” Jason asked, “Did she say how we get rid of this New Rita?”

“We have to destroy those staffs.” Kim said simply.

“Oh well, and I thought you were going to say something difficult…” Jason growled.

“Why is that so hard?” Carri asked and was met by a round of groans from all who had previously fought the duo.

“We need to organize.” Trini said. “We need to set up a Power Chamber and figure out what weapon’s we still have available.”

All eyes turned to Tommy. He was a bit surprised, but, then again he was the only one of them who had organized an official Ranger team on Earth.

“We need morphers.” Billy said. “Are there any available for utilization here on Earth or do we need to look off world?”

“The Space morphers are in use on KO 34 and KO 35.” Andros said. “General Gruumm is getting way too close, they needed the protection.”

“The Dino morphers are toast.” Tommy added. “The gems survived, but there’s not much power in them.”

“What about the old power coins?” Adam asked. “My coin’s been fully charged since Zordon…” He left the last of his sentence unsaid. Aisha looked briefly at Kim and Kim looked away.

“That’s not a good idea.” She said simply.

“Why?” Rocky asked.

“Because we don’t have all the coins, they’re scattered. We need something we can pull together fast. A new grid that we can link to and develop zords around.”

“You really think this is going to come to that?” Zack asked.

Kim nodded. She’d seen the developing Lunar Palace. Teeg had seen that her new Rita and Zedd would be well stocked. They had a few days at most.

“Aw man,” Zack said slowly. “I can’t. I mean, I can’t do this long term again. I have work, responsibilities, a new mortgage to pay…"

“Zack, no one here will fault you for not staying.” Trini said.

“It’s not like I’m running from a fight…”

“No one is saying you are.” Tommy added. “We’ve all got lives…jobs, families,” he gestured to Ashley, “Dependants. We need to consider our options and go from there.”

The conversations broke into small groups. Soft murmurings became animated discussions. Eventually the buzz escalated into loud conversations. Kim closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her fingers. When she looked up, she saw Tommy quietly studying her. She smiled sadly and walked over to him.

“My little brother called me this morning.” She said. “He wants me to go half and half with him on my grandfather’s old ranch. It’s being auctioned soon through the bankruptcy court, we might actually get it for a good price. He has this crazy idea about developing the back acreage into a housing development and he knows I’ve always been disappointed I didn’t inherit the old house.”

“What does that have to do with all this?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I’m moving back to Angel Grove… well, the Stone Canyon side anyway. I’m going to stay here a while, renovate that old house, and see this through.”

“Won’t the Nova’s need you?”

“Elemi’s not going to be happy about it, if that’s what you mean.” That was an understatement. Elemi was going to be furious, but she’d dealt with his anger before. “I can’t leave Earth. This is my fault. Teeg had no reason to come here except me.”

Tommy nodded, but said nothing. His eyes scanned the group of Rangers. They had all responded quickly, some without even waiting for him to call. All of them had been ready in an instant to drop everything and return to duty; even Ashley. Zordon would have been very proud.

“Need help getting the Zeo crystal out of mothballs?”

Tommy looked up. How the hell had she known? He grinned, “I think I can find it.” He said simply.

“Good,” she said. “Those Dino gems were so archaic they scared me.”

What was going on here, he wondered silently. How could she possibly have known about the dino gems? Unless it was his imagination, was she actually coming around and agreeing to work with him? He smiled, “They served their purpose.”

“Mmm, yes, I’d just love to see what those things did to your DNA, they weren’t meant for human use you know.”

“Yes,” he answered,” I knew that.” And I’ll be very interested to find out how you knew, he added silently.

Carri wondered over to them then. “I’m in.” She said simply.

“Carri…” Kim began, but Carri shook her head. “No, I already knew it was time for a change. These condos are going for a fairly decent price….” She gestured with her hand, indicating Jason’s home. “ Decent by California standards anyway. I think I’ll try being a California girl for a while.” She looked up at Tommy, “Rita and Zedd can’t be any harder than Ivan to fight. You can count this little yellow canary in your group.”

“Just …don’t sing...” Kim said, referring to her lack of vocal skills. Carri slapped her arm.

“Me too,” Rocky said, coming over to join the group. Privately he wondered what the hell he was doing. He had Marie to think about, a school to run, he had been so glad to see his Ranger days end. Yet suddenly, nothing was more important to him than volunteering for this mission. Carri smiled at him and he blushed uncomfortably.

“Me three.” Jason said, walking over and slapping Tommy’s shoulder. “What, you think you could do this without me?

Tommy smiled. Looking over at Kim, he lifted his eyes heavenward.

“I’m with you as well.” Billy said. They turned to look at him. “You’re going to need someone to build you a Command Center, run it … and someone to build you better zords than they had up in Reefside.”

“Hey,” Tommy said in mock defense.

“No offense.” Billy added. “But dinosaurs?”

As the five gathered around each other, making plans for the next few days, Adam sat quietly in his chair and watched them. Absently, he twisted the wedding band on his left hand. Tanya sat down on the arm of the oversized chair and put her arms around him.

“I wouldn’t fault you for staying with them.” She said.

He smiled sadly. They were leaving tomorrow morning to join Tanya’s tour bus in Chicago. Her career was just starting to skyrocket. He had her music production company to oversee and his own projects to complete. Besides, there were other reasons now that prevented him volunteering.

“I can’t leave you.” He said sadly. She smiled and kissed the top of his head.

“Of course you can. I’m one tough former Ranger. I’ll be absolutely fine on my own for a while.”

“For a while.” Adam said, “But no one knows how long this is going to last. A week, a month, a year…” He shook his head and met her eyes. “Time to grow up.”

Teeg scanned her readings one more time. Impossible, she thought. Her fingers tapped in the information one more time. After a few minutes the same results flashed across her screen. No wonder this little backwater planet had so many Rangers.

She rose from her chair and glided to the ship’s view screen. A full glowing blue and green Earth floated peacefully below. Slowly, she extended one hand outward toward her viewing globe, one long black nail scratched across its surface. Kimberly’s face came into view. She was in a small room, crowded with people; too many people. It would be difficult at best to eavesdrop. She retracted her hand slowly, fingers sliding across her chin, down her throat, and across her chest.

“What are you up to.” She whispered softly, eyes watching Kimberly intently. Kimberly was not a particularly difficult opponent, Zordon’s little girl Ranger or not. She was way to young for the amount of power she possessed. Teeg was convinced she had no idea what she was actually capable of. Her strategic sense had improved dramatically under that so-called husband of hers, but she made way too many easy mistakes. Now the other twin, the son of Maligore, he would be formidable one day. Briefly, she considered allowing him to live long enough to become an actual threat; it might actually be fun. Youth, Teeg mused. She wouldn’t go back for all the power in the universe, well perhaps for all the power…

Her readings indicated not one, but two power coins located on the surface below. What’s more, the coins were completely unprotected, as far as Teeg could tell. It was far too easy. One was most likely Kimberly’s own power coin. That would prove slightly more difficult to procure. It was foreseeable, if unlikely, that she would hide it on her home world. Occasionally the obvious proved the best deception, but Teeg found that a bit trite.

But why two? Two coins in one place, in the same dimension even, didn’t make sense. This was an alteration of the pattern she’d come to expect. Earth was a primitive little backwater. It amused Teeg to no end that Zordon had been trapped here until his final days. How he must have suffered in his isolation. Anger rose from her belly, he deserved to suffer. The joy of learning about his death was only marred by the fact it hadn’t come by her own hands.

It was sheer pleasure for her to collect what that old wizard had spent a lifetime hiding. Destroying what must have been so important to him. Once she had all… she purred, deep and throaty, and the sound startled her. She reached out and shut off the viewing globe. She would wait. Time was not a concern for her. Despite her master’s impatience, she could easily bide her time for a while. She would send Rexo back to agitate the Nova Rangers. He was obnoxious even on a good day. She would stay here a while…and watch.

The End

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